Carmel Valley man flees from Ukraine

POLAND (KION-TV)--A Carmel Valley man fled Ukraine with the help of a US Congressman from Southern California and now is receiving help from Congressman Jimmy Panetta to get him and his wife back to the U.S.

Bryan Showalter is currently staying at a hotel in Poland that is filled to capacity with refugees.

"Yesterday we saw a car got hit by a bomb and in the backseat, there were children's skeletons that were burnt. And people whose skin had fallen off," Showalter said about news coverage he has seen.

Showalter was in Ukraine were he visited several times and met the love of his life. He and his wife have been married since August. They applied for her visa more than six months ago.

He never planned on staying in Ukraine forever but after pleading with the U.S. embassy for a visa and being denied he fled desperate.

Congressman Mike Garcia heard about Showalter's predicament and decided to help by guiding him on when to leave and what routes to take to avoid Russian resistance.

"When someone in the government tells you how to get to safety you follow it," Showalter said.

Showalter is now buying ammo, body armor, baby food and diapers to help assist the Ukrainians.

The last hurdle in Showalter's way to get to the US is a visa approval for his wife's dog.

Currently, his wife and dog are in Ukraine, a country with a rabies problem and it makes it difficult to apply for a dog visa.

Thanks to Congressman Jimmy Panetta's assistance, visa's have been given to Showalter, his wife and his dog and they have a month to leave Poland.